Multi-tier service and secure wireless communications networks

ABSTRACT

The present invention pertains to improved communication quality and security of transmission in cellular communication networks. A customer has the option to pay different fees for different tiers of service relating to voice quality, bandwidth access, and different tiers of service relating to communications security. Higher tiers may guarantee a specific vocoder or bit rate is used, or guarantee a specific encryption protocol is use to ensure secure communications. Different tiers may be associated with customers&#39; records for billing purposes. The network may afford high end devices higher voice quality and/or security via a lookup table indicating what level of service is associated with a given device. Calling or receiving devices may negotiate with each other to change to a more robust vocoder or bit rate to ensure a higher quality and/or security. Furthermore, the user may opt to change the quality and/or security level before or during a call.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/492,379, filed on Jun. 8, 2012, entitled “Multi-Tier ServiceAnd Secure Wireless Communications Networks, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/811,740, filed on Jul. 6, 2010,entitled “Multi-Tier Service And Secure Wireless CommunicationsNetworks,” which application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C.§371 of International Application No. PCT/US2009/002674, filed Apr. 29,2009, published in English, which claims the benefit of and priorityfrom U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/125,971, entitled “Multi-TierService Wireless Communications Network,” filed Apr. 30, 2008, U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/166,344, entitled “Multi-Tier Quality ofService Wireless Communications Networks,” filed Apr. 3, 2009, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/167,580, entitled “Multi-Tier Service AndSecure Wireless Communications Networks,” filed Apr. 8, 2009, the entiredisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wireless communications, and,more particularly, to creating multi-tier cellular phone communicationssystem with different quality tiers of services and/or differentsecurity tiers of communication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of wireless communication has grown steadily for years, aswireless communication systems offer customers convenience andflexibility. Wireless cellular communication systems have been based ona wide variety of technologies, such as Time Division Multiple Access(“TDMA”), Global System for Mobile communications (“GSM”), UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), and Code Division MultipleAccess (“CDMA”). These technologies have evolved in an attempt toincrease the number of subscribers that can be serviced at a given time(capacity) and also to improve the quality of service for subscribers.For instance, in recent years so-called third generation or “3G”cellular systems have been deployed to provide access to fast Internetand video. These include systems based upon standards and/orrecommendations such as 3GPP and IMT-2000, which implement wideband CDMA(“WCDMA”) or other high-bandwidth architectures.

Such systems offer customers a wide array of services, from basic voicecommunication to Short Message text messaging (“SMS”), MultimediaMessaging Service (“MMS”), email access and even video applications.FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional cellular wide-area networkimplementation 10 in which a number of cells 12 are each served by oneor more base stations (“BSs”) 14. Each base station may include a RF(Radio Frequency) transmission section and a baseband section for signalprocessing, call management, etc. A number of base stations aretypically coupled to a mobile switching center (“MSC”) or mobiletelephone switching office (“MTSO”) 16. In turn, the MTSO 16 is coupledto other network elements (not shown) and/or to the public switchedtelephone network (“PSTN”) 18. User devices 20 include wirelesstelephones, laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (“PDAs”) andother devices that have two-way voice, data and/or video capabilities.Such devices are often referred to as mobile units or mobile stations(“MSs”).

As a given mobile station 20 travels or roams across a serviceprovider's network, it typically sends and receives packets of data,including digitized voice, from multiple base stations. At any giventime, primary communication (e.g., a voice call) is conducted betweenthe mobile station and one base station, commonly referred to as the“serving base station.” The serving base station may change from a firstbase station to a second base station as the location of the mobilestation changes or other factors impinge on the signal between themobile station and first base station. This process of switching betweenbase stations is called handoff.

One of the major problems in cellular communication may be theunsatisfactory quality of service for subscribers. The signalstransmitted between users' mobile stations and the network's basestations may be affected by a number of different factors, includingblockage by buildings or terrain, multipath interference, movement andspeed of the mobile station, handoffs between base stations, othermobile stations, etc; other network transmission characteristics, suchas delay, jitter and uptime (availability) of the network affect signalquality as well. Furthermore, there is a finite bandwidth available ateach base station or for a given cell in the wireless system. Thus,users are often subject to dropped calls and inferior voice quality, incontrast to the general high reliability of landline phonecommunications with plain old telephone service (“POTS”).

The number of users who can be served by a cell or by a particular basestation is impacted by the above mentioned issues and other factors.Service providers and mobile equipment manufacturers have attempted todeal with such issues with a number of different solutions. Forinstance, a serving base station may require mobile stations to performpower control to limit their transmission power. This helps to reducethe interference presented by transmissions from other mobile stationssignals and therefore increase the signal to interference and noiseratio (“SINR”) for other mobile stations. It can also enable more userson the system at a given time.

Mobile stations may also employ improved reception using so-called“RAKE” receivers to handle multipath propagation. See, for instance,“WCDMA for UMTS: Radio Access for Third Generation MobileCommunications,” edited by Holma and Toskala, copyright 2000 by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd., the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein. Another useful reference is “CDMA:Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication,” by Andrew Viterbi,copyright 1995 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., the entire disclosureof which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Another solution to make a communication channel more efficientimplements speech coding to reduce the amount of data that must be sentin order to reliably reproduce a user's voice. A general treatment ofspeech coding may be found in “Mobile Communication Systems,” by Parsonsand Gardiner, copyright 1989 by Blackie and Son Ltd., the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Speech coding in mobile telephony applications is typically done using acodec (coder/decoder). Voice codecs or voice coders (“vocoders”) havingvarying levels of compression are often employed to reduce the requiredcommunication bandwidth by reducing the sampling rate of a voice signal.The terms codec and vocoder are used interchangeably herein.

Most of the frequencies that reproduce speech lie in the range of about300 Hz to 3400 Hz. A band-limited signal, such as a speech signal, maybe reconstructed from digital samples taken at or above the “Nyquistrate,” which is a rate corresponding to two times the frequencybandwidth of the signal. This may require up to 64 Kb/s per user.However some vocoders can provide a reasonably good representation ofvoice with as little as 2.4 Kb/s of data rate.

Over the years, a number of different techniques have been used indifferent systems. By way of example only, one technique calledcode-excited linear prediction (“CELP”) has been implemented by Qualcommin its “QCELP” vocoders. Another popular technique is called theenhanced variable rate codec (“EVRC”). More recently, a variation calledEVRC-B has been implemented in 3G systems. Other techniques include theselectable mode vocoder (“SMV”) and adaptive multi-rate compression(“AMR”).

One of the advantages of vocoders implementing such techniques is thatthe compression rate may be varied. Variable compression can result inreduced transmission overhead, which, in turn, can enable a serviceprovider to accommodate more users on the wireless system. However, forany given vocoder the higher the compression level and the fewer bitsused to represent the information, the less the output sounds like theoriginal input (e.g., the voice of the user). In other words, thefidelity of the coded voice will decrease as the number of bits used torepresent the voice decreases. While the user may not notice somedegradation in quality, if the bit rate is reduced enough, or if a lessrobust vocoder is used, at some point the user may become aware of thereduced quality of the call.

Furthermore, in many applications a vocoder may change the bit rate oneor more times during a call, and different calls may use differentvocoders. Thus, a user may experience varying voice quality in themiddle of a call or when making or receiving different calls. This canbe frustrating to many users. Unfortunately, in conventional systems theuser has no control over which vocoder is used or which level ofcompression is employed at any given time. Instead, these are typicallymandated by standards and/or by the carrier's or service provider's ownrequirements or specifications.

In view of this, one can consider cellular telecommunications systems tobe “one size fits all” types of systems. All mobile phones operating ona given network are subject to the same constraints, regardless ofwhether the mobile phone was given to the user for free as part of aparticular plan or whether the user paid hundreds of dollars or more forthe phone. There is usually no differentiation, and bandwidth andtransmission characteristics mentioned above are imposed on allsubscribers.

By way of example only, certain manufacturers have offered luxurycellular phones costing many thousands of dollars. Nokia, for one,launched a company called Vertu to sell high end phones. The VertuConstellation, which is finished in 18 kt gold, retailed for $20,000. Aneven more expensive phone is the Motorola SLVR L7 Diamond, which waspriced at $75,000. And the Diamond Crypto Smartphone has been reportedto cost $1.3 million. Nonetheless, in existing systems users of suchphones are subject to the same performance problems and constraints asare users of low priced or even free phones.

Vocoder performance is only one aspect that affects quality of service(“QoS”) for a subscriber. As soon as signal leaves a mobile station, itis traveling through many spans and even networks until it reaches itsdestination, which may be another mobile station. Such transmissioncharacteristics as network availability (which often relates toequipment protection), signal delay, jitter and dropped packets rate arethe major factors that affect the grade of service quality. In traditioncellular networks, there is no differentiation of users by quality ofservice.

As a rule, the same network infrastructure may support business andresidential users, as well as users with sensitive information. Breachesof security are a very common fact in cellular networks. In thetraditional network infrastructure, there is no differentiation of usersby the security level. This may result in service degradation andunwillingness of potential users to subscribe to the service.

It may be useful to note that in the literature on wirelesscommunications the term “multi-tier cellular network” usually refers tooverlaying cells of different size such as micro-cells and macro-cellsin a two-tier network, which are commonly used today. This is not themeaning of “multi-tier” network as it is used herein. A “multi-tier”network as used herein refers to a wireless communication network withdifferent tiers of service, wherein each tier of service corresponds toa different level of service, such as quality of service (QoS) ordifferent levels of security, each tier priced differently. In theliterature, such networks are often referred to as “multi-class wirelessnetworks.” For the purposes of this disclosure the terms “multi-tier”and “multi-class” are used interchangeably as synonymous.

In view of the above, a need exists for improved service quality incellular communications systems and other wireless architectures. Afurther need exists for a multi-tier cell phone service offeringcustomers guaranteed minimum bandwidth and level of quality ofcommunication (defined also by latency, jitter, and network availabilityand dropped rate of the calls). Yet another need exists for customservice plans allowing customers to purchase custom level of cell phonecommunication service, which guarantees a minimum bandwidth and level ofquality of communication (defined also by latency, jitter, networkavailability and dropped rate of the calls), corresponding to aparticular tier in a multi-tier communication system. Still another needexists to match the quality of cellular phone communications to thequality and/or price level of a handset used by a customer. A furtherneed exists for custom service plans allowing customers to purchasecustom level of cell phone communication service, which guaranteessecure communications in the public-accessible cellular network; and tomatch a security level to a particular fee structure of the service.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method ofproviding telecommunication service in a wireless communication networkcomprises: providing a plurality of service levels, each of theplurality of service levels corresponding to a different quality and/orsecurity level of communication between a wireless mobile station and abase station of the wireless communication network, and each of theplurality of service levels also corresponds to different servicecharges in an overall pricing structure; providing an option to acustomer to select one of the plurality of service levels for use withthe wireless mobile station; storing the selected service level in acustomer record associated with the wireless mobile station; andconfiguring the customer record to bill the customer a predeterminedprice for the selected service level.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a wirelesscommunication system comprises at least one base station; at least onenetwork server operatively connected to the at least one base station; adata storage device operatively connected to the at least one networkserver; a customer record database stored on the storage device formaintaining records of a plurality of customers of the wirelesscommunication system and for identifying at least one wireless mobilestation associated with each of the plurality of customers; and aplurality of service quality and/or security levels, each of theplurality of service levels corresponding to a different quality and/orsecurity level of communication and to a different service fee in anoverall pricing structure.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method ofsetting a service level in a cellular communication network comprising aplurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a networkserver, the network server having a customer record database associatedtherewith, the method comprises receiving an incoming call indication bya first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobilestation being registered with the cellular communication network;determining a service level (both quality and/or security) associatedwith the first mobile station; and selecting at least one of a vocoderand a vocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, theselection being determined by the first mobile station's service levelagreement; and selecting at least one security level associated with thefirst mobile station, the selection being determined by the first mobilestation service level agreement.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, amethod of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising aplurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a networkserver is provided. The network server has a customer record databaseassociated therewith. The method comprises initiating a call scenariofor a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobilestation being registered on the cellular communication network;identifying a service level associated with the first mobile station;selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use bythe first mobile station, the selection being determined by theidentified service level; and communicating with the cellularcommunication network using the selected vocoder with the selectedvocoder bit rate in accordance with the service level agreementpurchased by a subscriber.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, amethod of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising aplurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a networkserver is provided. The network server has a customer record databaseassociated therewith. The method comprises initiating a call scenariofor a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobilestation being registered on the cellular communication network;identifying a security level associated with the first mobile station;selecting at least one of a vocoder and vocoder guaranteed securitylevel for use by the first mobile station, the selection beingdetermined by the identified security level; and communicating with thecellular communication network using the selected vocoder in accordancewith the service level agreement purchased by a subscriber.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, amethod of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising aplurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a networkserver is provided. The network server has a customer record databaseassociated therewith. The method comprises initiating a call scenariofor a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobilestation being registered on the cellular communication network;identifying a security level associated with the first mobile station;selecting at least one of a vocoder and vocoder guaranteed securitylevel and service quality level for use by the first mobile station, theselection being determined by the identified service quality level andsecurity level; and communicating with the cellular communicationnetwork using the selected vocoder.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, amethod of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising aplurality of base stations and a network server having customer recorddatabase, the method comprises receiving an incoming call from a firstone of a plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station beingregistered on the cellular communication network; determining a servicelevel associated with the first mobile station; selecting apredetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobile station, theselection being determined by the service level of the first mobilestation; allocating the selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for useby the first mobile station; and communicating with the first mobilestation using the selected bandwidth as per a Service Level Agreement(“SLA”).

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, amobile station for operation on a multi-tier wireless communicationnetwork providing a plurality of quality of service and security tierscorresponding to different levels of quality of wireless communicationsand security, the wireless mobile station comprises a housing; amicrophone positioned within the housing; an analog-to-digital converterdisposed within the housing and operatively connected to the microphone;a digital signal processor disposed within the housing and operativelyconnected to the analog-to-digital converter; an encryption/decryptiondevice disposed within the housing and operatively connected totransceiver; a receiver disposed within the housing and operativelyconnected to the digital signal processor; a transmitter disposed withinthe housing and operatively connected to the digital signal processor;an antenna at least partially received within the housing andoperatively connected to the transmitter and the receiver; and at leastone vocoder operable to code and decode signals corresponding to theplurality of service tiers on the wireless communication network.

In another embodiment, a base station is provided for use in amulti-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality ofservice tiers corresponding to different levels of quality and securityof wireless communications. The base station comprising a tower; anantenna positioned on the tower; a transceiver for transmitting andreceiving data packets to and from mobile users in the wirelesscommunication network; and a processor operatively coupled to thetransceiver and programmed to select a vocoder for corresponding tiercommunication in response to a phone call from a wireless mobile stationbased on the record in a lookup table.

In another embodiment, a method of providing telecommunication servicein a wireless communication network is provided. The method comprisesproviding a plurality of service levels, each of the plurality ofservice levels corresponding to a different quality level ofcommunication between a wireless mobile station and a base station ofthe wireless communication network, and each of the plurality of servicelevels also corresponds to a different service fees in an overallpricing structure; providing an option to a customer to select one ofthe plurality of quality service levels for use with the wireless mobilestation; storing the selected quality service level in a customer recordassociated with the wireless mobile station; and configuring thecustomer record to bill the customer a predetermined price for theselected service level.

In one example, each quality level of communication is a quality levelof an audio signal sent or received by the wireless mobile station. Inan alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to aparticular vocoder bit rate. In another alternative, the audio signalquality level corresponds to a selection of a vocoder used by thewireless mobile station. In a further alternative, the audio signalquality level corresponds to a minimum guaranteed bandwidth used by thewireless mobile station. In yet another alternative, the audio signalquality level relates to a dropped call rate. In another alternative,the audio signal quality level corresponds to at least one of afrequency range of an incoming audio signal, a sampling frequency of theincoming audio signal, and a dynamic range of the incoming audio signal.In a further alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds toa predetermine level of network protection between mobile stationsinvolved in a conversation; and the network protection ranges from abasic protection level to a 1:1 protection level to guarantee a qualityof service (QoS) purchased by a subscriber. In another alternative, theaudio signal quality level corresponds to a service level determined bya contract between a service provider and a subscriber including atleast one of a maximum allowed latency and a jitter value guaranteed bythe service provider.

In another example, the wireless communication network reserves at leastone of a predetermined bandwidth and a protection level for at leastsome of the plurality of quality service levels. In a further example,the wireless communication network is a cellular communication network.

Another embodiment is directed to a wireless communication system,comprising at least one base station; at least one network serveroperatively connected to the at least one base station; a data storagedevice operatively connected to the at least one network server; acustomer record database stored on the storage device for maintainingrecords of a plurality of customers of the wireless communication systemand for identifying at least one wireless mobile station associated witheach of the plurality of customers; a plurality of quality servicelevels, each of the plurality of quality service levels corresponding toa different quality level of communication and to a different price inan overall pricing structure; and a plurality of security levels, eachof the plurality of security levels corresponding to a differentsecurity level of communication and to a different service fee in theoverall pricing structure.

In one example, the customer record database is updatable to reflect aselected one of the quality of service levels and a selected one of thesecurity levels for a given customer. In another example, each qualitylevel of communication is a quality level of an audio signal to be sentor received by a mobile station of a given customer. In a furtherexample, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a vocoder bitrate. In another example, the audio signal quality level corresponds toa selection of a vocoder of a user's mobile station. In yet anotherexample, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a minimumguaranteed bandwidth of a user's mobile station. And in another example,the audio signal quality level corresponds to a particular communicationchannel availability according to a contract with a service provider.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of setting a quality servicelevel in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of basestations, a plurality of mobile stations and a network server, thenetwork server having a customer record database associated therewith.The method comprises receiving an incoming call indication by a firstone of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station beingregistered with the cellular communication network; determining aquality service level associated with the first mobile station; andselecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use bythe first mobile station, the selection being determined by the firstmobile station's quality service level.

Another method is directed to setting a security level in a cellularcommunication network comprising a plurality of base stations, aplurality of mobile stations and a network server, the network serverhaving a customer record database associated therewith. The methodcomprises receiving an incoming call indication by a first one of theplurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registeredwith the cellular communication network; determining a security levelassociated with the first mobile station; and selecting a securityprotocol for use by the first mobile station, the selection beingdetermined by the first mobile station's security level.

In one example, determining the security level includes querying thecustomer record database to identify the first mobile station's securitylevel. In another example, determining the security level includesdetermining a model number of the mobile station; and accessing a lookuptable using the model number to identify the security level associatedwith the first mobile station's model number. In a further example, themethod further comprises receiving a service level identifier from thefirst mobile station by a first one of the plurality of base stations ofthe cellular communication network; validating the service levelidentifier; selecting a security protocol for use by the first basestation, the selection being determined by the validated service levelidentifier; and transmitting a service level confirmation to the firstmobile station.

In another example, the plurality of mobile stations further includes asecond mobile station; determining further comprises determining asecurity level of the second mobile station; and selecting furthercomprises identifying a higher tier security service level from amongthe first and second mobile station security levels; and selecting asecurity protocol for use by the first and second mobile stations, theselection being determined by the higher tier security service level. Ina further example, the plurality of mobile stations further includes asecond mobile station; determining further comprises determining asecurity level of the second mobile station; and selecting furthercomprises identifying a lower tier service level from among the firstand second mobile station security levels; and selecting a securityprotocol for use by the first and second mobile stations, the selectionbeing determined by the lower tier security service level.

In another example, the plurality of mobile stations further includes asecond mobile station, wherein the determining includes determining aservice level of the second mobile station and the selecting furthercomprises identifying a higher tier service level from among the firstand second mobile station service levels; selecting at least one of avocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first and second mobilestations based upon the higher tier service level; adaptively adjustinga given service level for a higher tier subscriber device among thefirst and second mobile stations so that the higher tier subscriberdevice is configured communicate at a lowest tier service level;adaptively measuring a quality of transmission between the first andsecond mobile stations; adaptively adjusting a quality of signal levelto a next higher signal level if a transcoder reports signaldegradation; and repeating the identifying, selecting, adaptivelyadjusting the given service level, adaptively measuring and adaptivelyadjusting the quality of signal level operations until a higher servicelevel of a subscriber's mobile station is satisfied or no the furtheradjustment of the service level of the subscriber's mobile station ispossible.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of communicating in acellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations,a plurality of mobile stations and a network server, the network serverhaving customer record database associated therewith. The methodcomprises initiating a call scenario for a first one of the plurality ofmobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on thecellular communication network; identifying a service level associatedwith the first mobile station; selecting at least one of a vocoder and avocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, the selectionbeing determined by the identified service level; and communicating withthe cellular communication network using the selected vocoder or theselected vocoder bit rate.

In one example, identifying the service level includes retrieving apredetermined quality of service level stored in a memory of the firstmobile station. In another example, identifying the service levelincludes retrieving a predetermined security level stored in a memory ofthe first mobile station. In a further example, the memory is anonvolatile memory of the first mobile station. In another example, thememory is a subscriber identity module of the first mobile station. Inyet another example, the call scenario is initiated by a user of thefirst mobile station making an outgoing call. In another example,selecting the at least one of the vocoder and the vocoder bit rate isdone at the first mobile station. In a further example, the callscenario is an incoming call received by the first mobile station. Andin another example, the plurality of mobile stations further comprises asecond mobile station; the incoming call is initiated by the secondmobile station; and selecting further includes selecting at least one ofa vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the second mobile stationfor the incoming call.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of communicating in acellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stationsand a network server having customer record database. The methodcomprises receiving an incoming call from a first one of a plurality ofmobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on thecellular communication network; determining a service level associatedwith the first mobile station; selecting a predetermined minimumbandwidth for use by the first mobile station, the selection beingdetermined by the service level of the first mobile station; allocatingthe selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobilestation; and communicating with the first mobile station using theselected bandwidth.

In one example, the service level of the first mobile station is storedin a customer record of the customer record database. In anotherexample, the selected predetermined bandwidth is allocated for theduration of the incoming call. In a further example, the incoming callincludes a bandwidth indicator that is received by a first one of theplurality of base stations. In this case, the method may furthercomprise passing the bandwidth indicator from the first base station tothe network server; validating the bandwidth indicator at the networkserver by comparing the bandwidth indicator to a bandwidth valueassociated with the first mobile station that is stored in the customerrecord database; and if the bandwidth indicator is validated, enablingthe allocation of the selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for useby the first mobile station.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of providing a multi-tiertelecommunication service for mobile stations in a cellularcommunication network including a plurality of base stations. The methodcomprises providing a plurality of communication modes, each of theplurality of communication modes having a different quality level ofcommunication between mobile stations utilizing the cellularcommunication network and the plurality of base stations of the cellularcommunication network; and providing a plurality of service tiers, eachof the plurality of service tiers corresponding to one of the pluralityof communication modes, wherein each of the plurality of service tiersalso corresponds to a different price so that a first one of the tierscorresponding to a communication mode with a higher quality level ofcommunication is more expensively priced than a second one of the tierscorresponding to a communication mode with a lower quality level ofcommunication.

A further embodiment is directed to a method of providing a multi-tiertelecommunication service for mobile stations in a cellularcommunication network including a plurality of base stations. The methodcomprises providing a plurality of communication modes, each of theplurality of communication modes having a different security level ofcommunication between mobile stations utilizing the cellularcommunication network and the plurality of base stations of the cellularcommunication network; and providing a plurality of security tiers, eachof the plurality of security tiers corresponding to one of the pluralityof communication modes, wherein each of the plurality of security tiersalso corresponds to a different price so that a first one of the tierscorresponding to a communication mode with a higher security level ofcommunication is more expensively priced than a second one of the tierscorresponding to a communication mode with a lower security level ofcommunication.

In one example, the method further comprises providing a first mobilestation for use in the cellular communication network, the first servicetier corresponding to the communication mode with the higher securitylevel of communication being associated with the first mobile station;providing a second mobile station for use in the cellular communicationnetwork, the second service tier corresponding to the communication modewith the lower security level of communication being associated with thesecond mobile station; and offering the first mobile station for sale orlease at a higher price than the second mobile station.

In another example, the method further comprises selling or leasing atleast one of the first and second mobile stations to a customer; andstoring each security tier associated with the at least one of the firstand second mobile stations in a customer record associated with the soldor leased at least one of the first and second mobile stations. In thiscase, the method may further comprise configuring the customer record tobill the customer a predetermined price for each stored security tier.

In another embodiment, a method of procuring multi-tier cellulartelecommunication service in a cellular communication network comprisinga plurality of base stations and a mobile station is provided. Themethod comprises identifying a plurality of service tiers, each of thetiers corresponding to a different security level of communicationbetween the mobile station and the plurality of base stations of thecellular communication network; and selecting one of the service tiersfrom among the plurality of service tiers. In one example, each of theplurality of service tiers also corresponds to a different price, sothat a premium tier corresponding to a higher security level ofcommunication is priced higher than a tier corresponding to a lowersecurity level of communication. In an alternative, the method furthercomprises purchasing by a customer the selected service tier for usewith the mobile station. In another alternative, the selected servicetier is the premium service tier and the method further comprises payinga predetermined higher price for the selected premium service tier. Andin a further alternative, the selected service tier is a premiumsecurity tier and the method further comprises paying a predeterminedhigher price for the selected premium security tier.

Another embodiment is directed to a mobile station for operation on amulti-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality ofservice tiers corresponding to different levels of secured wirelesscommunications. The mobile station comprises a housing; a microphonepositioned within the housing; an analog-to-digital converter disposedwithin the housing and operatively connected to the microphone; adigital signal processor disposed within the housing and operativelyconnected to the analog-to-digital converter; a receiver disposed withinthe housing and operatively connected to the digital signal processor; atransmitter disposed within the housing and operatively connected to thedigital signal processor; an antenna at least partially received withinthe housing and operatively connected to the transmitter and thereceiver; and at least one vocoder operable to code and decode signalscorresponding to the plurality of service tiers on the wirelesscommunication network.

In one example, the plurality of service tiers includes a premiumservice tier, the at least one vocoder is operable to code and decodesignals corresponding to the premium service tier, and wherein thepremium service tier is associated with a higher security level ofwireless communications. In another example, the at least one vocoder isprogrammed to provide a higher bit rate encoding scheme for a highersecurity of voice communication. In a further example, the mobilestation further comprises memory for storing a security indicator, thememory being operatively coupled to the transmitter, wherein uponcommunication to a base station of the wireless communication network,the security indicator is retrieved from the memory and passed to thebase station, whereby the security indicator instructs the base stationto select an appropriate vocoder for a predetermined security level ofcommunication corresponding to the security indicator.

A further embodiment is directed to a base station for use in amulti-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality ofservice tiers corresponding to different security levels of wirelesscommunications. The base station comprises a tower; an antennapositioned on the tower; a transceiver for transmitting and a receiverfor receiving data to and from mobile users in the wirelesscommunication network; and a processor operatively coupled to thetransceiver and the receiver and programmed to select a vocoder forpremium tier communication in response to a phone call from a wirelessmobile station based on the record in a lookup table. In one example,the lookup table is one of a phone number identifier and a model of thewireless mobile station.

A further embodiment is directed to a wireless communication systemcomprising at least one base station; at least one wireless mobilestation capable of communicating with said at least one base stationusing radio frequency communication; mobile switching center; wirelesscommunication network linking said at least one base station and said atleast one wireless mobile station with said mobile switching center;wherein said wireless communication network provides a plurality oftiers of wireless service corresponding to a different security level ofcommunication between a wireless mobile station and a base station ofthe wireless communication network, and each of the plurality of servicesecurity levels also corresponds to a different price in an overallpricing structure.

In yet another embodiment, a cellular telephone network comprises aplurality of base stations and a plurality of cellular phones, and animprovement comprises a multi-tier service having a plurality ofcommunication modes utilizing at least one of a secure communicationchannel, a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate, wherein a premium-tier modecorresponds to a more secure communication channel; and a plurality ofservice tiers priced differently, wherein each of the plurality ofservice tiers correspond to one of the plurality of communication modesso that a more expensive service tier corresponds to a more securecommunication mode.

In a further embodiment, a cellular communication network comprises atleast one base station; at least one mobile station; at least onenetwork server having customer record database; means for receiving anincoming call from one of said at least one mobile station registered onthe cellular communication network; means for determining a servicesecurity level associated with said one of said at least one mobilestation; means for selecting a predetermined secure communicationchannel for use by said one of said at least one of mobile station, theselection being determined by said one of said at least one of mobilestation's service level; means for allocating the selected predeterminedsecure communication channel for use by said one of said at least one ofmobile station; and means for communicating with said one of said atleast one of mobile station using the selected secure communicationchannel.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a cellularcommunication network comprises at least one mobile station; at leastone base station having a microwave antenna for receiving an incomingcall by one of said at least one mobile station registered on thecellular communication network; at least one network server, saidnetwork server having customer record database sufficient to determine aservice level associated with said one of said at least one mobilestation; a lookup table for selecting at least one of a vocoder and anencryption bit rate for use by said one of said at least one of mobilestation, the selection being determined by said one of said at least oneof mobile station's service level; and a radio-frequency transmitteroperatively connected with the base station for communicating betweensaid one of said at least one of mobile station and the cellularcommunication network using the selected vocoder or the selectedencryption bit rate.

A further embodiment is directed to a wireless mobile station forcommunicating in a cellular communication network having at least onebase station and at least one network server, the network server havingcustomer record database. The wireless mobile station comprises atransmitter for transmitting an outgoing call by the mobile stationregistered on the cellular communication network; means for querying thecustomer record database to determine a service security levelassociated with said one of said at least one mobile station; means forselecting at least one of a vocoder and an encryption bit rate for useby said one of said at least one of mobile station, the selection beingdetermined by said one of said at least one of mobile station's servicelevel; and means for communicating with the cellular communicationnetwork using the selected vocoder or the selected encryption bit rate.

Another embodiment is directed to an improved method for wirelesstransmission of telecommunication signals, comprising providing aplurality of signal generation modes, each said mode corresponding to atleast one of a different bandwidth, a different vocoder and a differentencryption bit rate, where each said mode yields a different signalencryption level; providing a pricing structure for use of said methodwherein the price for signal transmission using each of said modes isrelated to the signal encryption level thereof; and permitting selectionof a signal generation mode by users of said method.

In a further embodiment to a cellular telecommunication system, animprovement comprises means for providing a plurality of signalgeneration modes, each said mode corresponding to at least one of adifferent bandwidth, a different vocoder and a different encryption bitrate, where each said mode yields a different signal encryption; meansfor providing a pricing structure for use of said method wherein theprice for signal transmission using each of said modes is related to thesignal encryption level thereof; and means for permitting selection of asignal generation mode by users of said method.

And in another embodiment, a method of providing telecommunicationservice in a wireless communication network comprises providing aplurality of service levels, each of the plurality of service levelscorresponding to a different security level of communication between awireless mobile station and a base station of the wireless communicationnetwork, each of the plurality of service levels also corresponding to adifferent service fee in an overall pricing structure; providing anoption to a customer to select one of the plurality of security levelsfor use with the wireless mobile station; storing the selected securitylevel in a customer record associated with the wireless mobile station;and configuring the customer record to bill the customer a predeterminedprice for the selected security level.

In one example, a signal security level used during communication by thewireless mobile station corresponds to at least one of the securitylevels determined by a contract between a service provider and asubscriber security levels. And in a further example, the wirelesscommunications network reserves a predetermined security level for atleast some of the plurality of security levels.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, each of the embodiments,examples and alternative modes of operation herein may be used incombination with any other aspects of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates conventional cellular system architecture.

FIG. 2 illustrates a call quality flow diagram in accordance withaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an outgoing call process flow in accordance withaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a call flow scenario in accordance with aspects ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates another call flow scenario in accordance with aspectsof the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a lookup table in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative call flow scenario in accordance withaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a further call flow scenario in accordance withaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 9 provides a mobile station architecture in accordance with aspectsof the present invention.

FIG. 10 provides an alternative mobile station architecture inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative outgoing call flow scenario inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates an alternative incoming call flow scenario inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates another outgoing call flow scenario in accordancewith aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates an alternative incoming call flow scenario inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates a communication system in accordance with aspects ofthe present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating a first upgrade operation inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a second upgrade operation inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 18 illustrates a station architecture in accordance with aspects ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will beappreciated when considered with reference to the following descriptionof exemplary embodiments and accompanying figures.

In accordance with aspects of the invention, it is recognized thatwireless communication customers who either have high priced phones orwho spend a good deal of time on the phone, such as business people andteenagers, may be willing to pay for an improved quality level ofservice and/or security that differentiate them from other subscribers.This is akin to the free market approach in general where consumers areable to purchase various levels of service commensurate with theirwillingness and ability to pay for them.

For example, while many people fly coach class, some people are willingto pay for business class or first class, which may be significantlymore expensive, if they desire and can afford a higher level of service.Even some hospitals have separate floors for “VIP” patients who receivespecial services for an additional price.

In another example, in the existing cellular networks,consumers/businesses are purchasing various service features for anadditional fee. Those features, by an example only, may includecoverage, Internet access, email, multimedia and GPS services.

In the cable and satellite television industries, consumers are free tochoose between less costly basic services and packages, which offer morechannels and/or better quality. For instance, customers may choose HDTVdigital service instead of basic digital service. And people who wish tobuy broadband Internet service can often subscribe through their cable(or PSTN) service provider. Here they may share the same bandwidth withother subscribers or may pay for access to a higher bandwidth level.Broadband users may also buy guaranteed bandwidth with various servicelevels using DSL (e.g., Fractional T1, T1, T3 or other speeds).

Another free market situation exists where consumers are given theoption of using a private toll highway versus a public non-toll road.Some cities and states provide drivers with the option to use privatetoll highways with an expectation of less congestion and a quicker tripfor those who are willing to pay for it. It can be seen that consumerswho wish to purchase such services have a choice as to what tier ofservice they are willing to pay for.

In accordance with aspects of the present invention, multi-tieredservice offerings are provided for cellular communication systems. Inexemplary embodiments, a customer may choose between different tiers ofservice quality or/and security levels, which may offer differentguaranteed levels of voice quality and/or bandwidth and/or security asstipulated by a contract between a service provider and a user.

By the way of example only, Table 1 illustrates a possibledifferentiating of subscribers based on quality of services, depictingclasses of services and their characteristics. This table illustrates apossible service offering when a service provider offers three classesof service quality, i.e., Class I, Class II and Class III, the highestbeing Class I. Subscribers can purchase various “quality of the service”packages. For example, for a subscriber of Class I, the provider selects1:1 protection facilities to support availability of the service notless than 99.95%, bandwidth for transmission with a vocoder rate notless than 12 Kb/s, guaranteed latency not more than 130 ms and jitternot more than 10 ms. The percentage of dropped calls should be limitedto not more than 3%. All these characteristics will be referred toSLAs—Service Level Agreements—that may be clearly stipulated in theservice contract. In addition, as a part of the package, a subscribercan also purchase a particular security level for his/her device'soperation on the network's facilities. For example, Security Level I mayinclude the highest level of security with sophisticated encryption.Several intermediate security levels may also be provides, as well as aservice level that includes only basic security measures.

TABLE 1 Percent of Class of Availability Latency/ Dropped Service/(%)/Facility Bandwidth Jitter Calls Characteristics Protection Kb/s (ms)(Max) I 99.95% 1:1 12 and up 130/10 3 protection II 99.9% 1:N 7-8 180/205 protection III 98.5% 2-4 220/35 7-8 Protection is limited

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram 100 in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention. Here, as shown at step S100, the user maypurchase, rent or otherwise obtain/receive a mobile device. At stepS102, the user selects a predetermined tier of service (which he/sheagreed to pay for as per a service contract). Each tier of service maydirectly correspond to at least one Class of Service (as per specificSLAs), which a service provider offered and a user purchased, each beingdifferentiated by transmission parameters as explained above. Each tiermay also correspond to a particular voice quality level and a bandwidthamount, as well as correspond to a security level.

By way of example only, the voice quality level may be associated with aparticular bit rate for a codec or vocoder used by the mobile device andthe communicating network infrastructure such as a base station ormobile switching center as well as network facilities supporting suchinfrastructure. For instance, the system may offer a number of bit ratesranging from, e.g., 4.75 Kb/s up to 12.2 Kb/s for a given vocoder. Oneor more intermediate rates may be provided between the lowest andhighest bit rates. The lowest bit rate may correspond to the lowestquality or fidelity of the coded voice signal, while the highest bitrate may correspond to the highest quality or fidelity of the codedvoice signal. Multiple vocoders may be offered in a given mobile station(or it may be one vocoder with programmable bit rate settings). Eachvocoder may support one or more bit rates, such as 4.5 kbps, 5.5 kbps,6.5 kbps, 7.5 kbps, 8.5 kbps, 9.5 kbps, 10.5 kbps, 11.5 kbps, 12.5 kbpsor any increments between these bit rates. Of course, it should beunderstood that higher and/or lower bit rates may also be supported.

By way of example only, the security level may be associated with theparticular settings of the subscriber's MS and/or BS settings thatcorrespond to the selected by a subscriber service package. Securitylevel implementations may employ different techniques, starting withvery simple (or no additional security), and going further tosophisticated encryption (but limited by laws applicable to publicsafety).

While quality or fidelity may be subjective to some degree, a number oftechniques have been developed to quantify the evaluation process. Forinstance, British Telecom developed a call clarity index (“CCI”).Another known technique is the mean opinion score (“MOS”). Yet anothertechnique, called perceptual evaluation of speech quality (“PESQ”), hasbeen promulgated by the ITU. See, for instance, ITU-T RecommendationP.862. A more recent E-model is ITU Standard G.1072 that quantifies whatis essentially a subjective judgment: a user's opinion of the perceivedquality of a voice transmission. Such techniques generally operate on aspeech quality scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being bad, being poor,3 being fair, 4 being good and 5 being excellent. Any such quantifiabletechnique may be used in accordance with the embodiments of the presentinvention.

In one example, the voice quality level may correspond to a value orrange of values on a speech quality scale. In one example, the user mayselect a first voice quality level of between 4-5, a second qualitylevel of between 3-4, a third voice quality level of between 2-3 and afourth voice quality level of between 1-2. In an exemplary pricing plan,the first voice quality level (e.g., between 4 and 5) is the mostexpensive to purchase, with the price dropping for each lower voicequality level. Of course, it should be understood that these voicequality levels are merely exemplary and other gradations may beemployed. For instance, a middle tier voice quality level may be between3.5 and 4.0, an upper tier voice quality level may be between 4.0 and4.5, and the highest tier voice quality level may be between 4.5 and5.0.

In another example, the security level may correspond to a value ofsecurity offerings. The user can select a highest security level,purchase a Service Plan that supports this security level, and insurehigh resistance of his/her calls to eavesdropping and other securitybreaches. In exemplary security offerings, many business people may lookto secure their mobile conversations, which usually can be interceptedby unauthorized parties.

In the case where the tiers of service correspond to a bandwidth amount,the user may be given the option of selecting between any number ofpredetermined bandwidth amounts. The specific bandwidths may be systemdependent in view of the amount of spectrum available at a given cell orbase station. In one example, the system may permit the user to usebandwidth that would otherwise be allocated to one or more other users.Thus, as fewer users may be accommodated, the higher bandwidth user maypay a higher fee for access to the additional bandwidth.

Such aggregation of bandwidth may be advantageous to ensure a higher bitrate for a given vocoder or for other applications. By way of exampleonly, the user may wish to send or receive real-time video content. Thebandwidth required may depend on the display size of the mobile station.Bandwidth aggregation helps to ensure that the user views the video atthe desired video and audio quality levels. For instance, a givenapplication may require a high definition video quality with 7.1 channelaudio.

In yet another alternative, the tiers of service may correspond to adropped call rate. For instance, if a cellular system typically averagesa dropped call rate of X %, then the tiers of service may guarantee theuser different dropped call rates. By way of example only, a basic(lowest) tier may guarantee that a user will never observe a droppedcall rate more than X % at no additional charge, while a mid-level tiermay guarantee a maximum dropped call rate of X*0.9 (a 10% improvement indropped call rate). A high level tier may guarantee a dropped call ratenot more than X*0.75 (a 25% improvement in dropped call rate.) And a“premier” tier may guarantee a dropped call rate not more than X*0.5 (a50% improvement over the typical dropped call rate). While several tiershave been provided in this example, it should be understood thatdifferent tiers and/or ranges of tiers may also be provided. Forinstance, a series of three or more tiers may each have a set percentageimprovement between each tier (e.g., a 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% or 25%improvement). Furthermore, the dropped call rate may be set once tocover all networks the mobile device may operate on, or it may vary fromnetwork to network depending on the specific architecture and otherdesign factors of each network.

The user may buy service with a level of security that corresponds tohis/her specific job or other functions. By a way of example only, a CEOmay purchase a special high security level to assure that his/herconversations are secured and avoid even a possibility of economicespionage.

The service package may include different combinations of SecurityLevels and Quality of Transmission Levels. As an example, a subscribermay need the highest Security Level combined with a middle-range Qualityof Service Level. In yet in another example, a subscriber may purchaseonly a particular bandwidth.

The user may purchase a given level of service quality and security atthe time he or she receives the cellular phone, for instance at a kioskin the mall, at the service provider's store, etc. Alternatively, theservice of any level may be purchased upon activation of the phone, suchas with over the air activation. When the service provider sets up thecustomer's account record, the record will reflect the appropriate levelof service associated with his or her mobile device, as shown at stepS104 of FIG. 2.

In another example, after the phone is activated the user may run anapplet or other program on the phone, or otherwise send a command fromthe phone to the network via a serving base station in order to requesta change in the user's quality of service and/or security levels. Theuser may press an actuator or select an option in a software menu torequest the change. And as shown in step S104, the customer's accountrecord is updated to reflect the new quality of service and/or securitylevels.

A further option available to the user is the ability to set or changethe service level via a web-based interface. For instance, the user mayaccess his or her account record through a website of the appropriateservice provider. This may be done directly through the user's mobilestation or using a separate device such as a laptop or desktop computer.Once the account is accessed, the user may have the option to view theexisting service quality level for one or more mobile devices associatedwith the user's account.

The user is desirably able to change the service quality level for oneor more of the mobile devices through a graphical user interface. Once achange has been made, the customer's account record is updated toreflect the new service level at step S104. Changes may be done globallyfor all of the user's devices at the same time or may be done separatelyfor one or more of the user's devices. Thus, the user may set the voicequality rate of his or her cell phone to a first tier and set the voicequality rate and/or video quality rate of his or her PDA or “smartphone”to a second tier.

For selection of a security level, it is desirable to set-up a securitylevel during the phone or other devices activation. Such information canbe stored in the customer records as shown in FIG. 2. A subscriber maypay a premium for such selection, but it may attract a wide category ofbusiness people. As an example, security options may not be offered to awide audience due to possible criminal use. It may be a choice forvarious large and small business institutions as well as for governmentorganizations.

In yet another alternative, the quality service level in the customer'srecord may be set in accordance with the model of mobile device used bythe customer. Here, if the user purchases or owns an expensive or highend mobile station such as the Vertu Constellation, the quality servicelevel may be placed at a given level, such as the highest service level.This may be done by comparing the make and/or model of the mobilestation to a lookup table or other index to determine which servicelevel should be employed.

As shown in step S106 FIG. 2, upon setting or updating the change in thequality of service level, the customer's billing record is set orupdating to reflect the fee charged for the current level of service.The billing record may be part of the customer's general records or maybe a separate record stored in a dedicated billing database or otherdatabase. Here, the process may terminate at step S108 or may return tostep S104 for modification.

Once the user's cellular phone or other mobile station is configured tooperate on the service provider's network, he or she can make andreceive calls or otherwise transmit/receive data. In accordance with anaspect of the present invention, FIG. 3 presents a flow diagram 120illustrating an embodiment of how tiered servicing may be implementedwhen making outgoing calls. First, at step S120, an outgoing call isinitiated on the user's mobile station. Step S122 shows that differentmodes are possible, such as a local mode and a network mode. The twomodes will be addressed in detail below.

Turning first to the network mode case, the process continues at stepS124. Here, after call initiation, a check is made of the customer'srecords to identify the current quality and/or security service levels.Then at step S126 the appropriate vocoder and/or bit rate are selectedbased upon the current quality and security service levels. Once theselection is made, the process may continue at step S128 where the usermay conduct his or her call in accordance with the selection(s). Thenthe process may terminate at step S130.

In order to better describe one method of operation involving thisnetwork mode, reference is now made to FIG. 4. This figure presents afunctional diagram 200 showing the user's mobile station 202, theserving base station 204, a mobile switching center 206 and the customerrecord database 208 used by a service provider. Other network elementsare omitted for clarity.

In an example, the user's mobile station initiates a call by sending oneor more signaling strings to the base station as shown by arrow 210.This signal flow may include a user device identifier therein. In thiscase, the user device identifier may be contained in a header or anotherparticular place of such a string.

The base station may pass the user device identifier to the mobileswitching center or other internetworking infrastructure as shown byarrow 212. The mobile switching center may then access a customer recorddatabase as shown by arrow 214. At this point the system is able toidentify an appropriate quality/security service levels for the user'smobile device in accordance with the user's customer record, whichcorresponds to a subscriber's contract (SLA) with a service provider.

Then the customer record database passes information concerning thequality/security service levels back to the mobile switching center asshown by arrow 216. By way of example only, the information may be avalue representing the quality/security service levels. In turn, themobile switching center may then pass the service levels informationback to the base station as indicated by arrow 218. The base station canthus select an appropriate vocoder for use (if more than one isavailable) and/or set a bit rate for the base station's vocoder. Thevocoders of the base stations and the mobile stations may include anencryption device therein. Alternatively, the encryption devices may bedistinct from the vocoders. See FIG. 18, which is discussed furtherbelow.

Finally, as shown by arrow 220, the base station may then send themobile device its own identifier, which tells the mobile device whichvocoder to use (if more than one is available) and/or which bit rate toset for the mobile station's vocoder. The base station may also send themobile device information telling it which security level to select,with zero security level corresponding to basic service. In accordancewith another aspect of the invention, the base station vocoder and themobile station vocoder may be set to the same or different bit rates inview of the service level information.

In another example, when the user originates a call, data packets aresent from the mobile station to the base station as shown by the arrow210. However, in this example no user device identifier is sent by themobile station. Upon receipt of the data packets identifying a callorigination, the base station communicates with the mobile switchingcenter or other internetworking infrastructure as shown by the arrow212. In turn, the mobile switching center may then access a customerrecord database as shown by the arrow 214.

Then as above, the customer record database looks up the user's recordin the database and passes information concerning the quality/securityservice levels back to the mobile switching center as shown by the arrow216. In turn, the mobile switching center may then pass this informationback to the base station as indicated by the arrow 218. The base stationcan thus select an appropriate vocoder for use (if more than one isavailable) and/or set a bit rate for the base station's vocoder. Here,the corresponding security level may also be selected. Finally, as shownby the arrow 220, the base station may send the mobile device its ownidentifier, which tells the mobile device which vocoder to use (if morethan one is available), which bit rate to set for the mobile station'svocoder, and/or which security level to select.

Thus, in these two network examples for mobile station call origination,it can be seen that the mobile station itself may send a user deviceidentifier, which is passed to the customer record database or theinfrastructure itself may check the database once the call is initiated.

Returning to step S122 of FIG. 3, when in local mode the processproceeds to step S132. Here, when the customer makes an outgoing call,the mobile station may send a user device identifier in one or more datapackets to the serving base station. The user device identifier mayinclude a quality level, security and/or bandwidth indicator. This maybe done by placing the indicator in a packet header or in some otherpredefined data field in a given data packet.

Upon receipt of the indicator, the base station may validate theidentifier as shown in step S134, for instance by comparing theidentifier against a stored identifier in a database. The validation maybe done locally at the base station or remotely by a mobile switchingcenter, interworking function, customer record database or other networkentity.

As shown in step S136, the base station may be operable to select thevocoder and/or set the bit rate to a quality level as indicated by thereceived identifier. It may also be operable to select the securitylevel as indicated by the received identifier. This may be confirmed bysending a return indicator back to the mobile station as shown at stepS138. Upon receipt of confirmation, the mobile station may then selectthe vocoder and/or set the bit rate to comply with the settings at thebase station. As noted above, the base station vocoder and the mobilestation vocoder may be set to different bit rates. The process proceedsto step S140, where the user can then conduct his/her call. The processmay terminate at step S142.

In order to better describe one method of operation involving the localmode, reference is now made to FIG. 5. This figure presents a functionaldiagram 240 showing the user's mobile station 202, the serving basestation 204, mobile switching center 206 and the customer recorddatabase 208. As with FIG. 4, other network elements are omitted forclarity.

In an example, the user's mobile station initiates a call by sending oneor more data packets to the base station as shown by arrow 242. At leastone of the data packets may include a user device identifier therein,e.g., in a header of the data packet. This identifier containsinformation on the Class of Service, which this particular subscriberpurchased from the service provider. The base station may validate theidentifier locally or may pass a validation request to the mobileswitching center as shown by dashed arrow 244. If passed, the mobileswitching center may process the validation request locally or may passthe request to other network resources such as the customer recorddatabase as shown by dashed arrow 246. A validation answer may be passedback from the database as shown by dashed arrow 248, and the validationanswer may be passed from the mobile switching center to the basestation as shown by dashed arrow 250.

Regardless of whether validation is performed locally by the basestation or remotely, if the identifier is validated then the basestation desirably selects an appropriate vocoder for use (if more thanone is available) and/or set a bit rate for the base station's vocoder.The base station may also set up network characteristics as per selectedClass of Service. Finally, as shown by the arrow 252, the base stationmay send the mobile station its own identifier, which tells the mobiledevice which vocoder to use (if more than one is available) and/or whichbit rate to set for the mobile station's vocoder.

For any of the above examples, the indicator from the mobile station mayinclude a request to use a particular vocoder, bit rate and/orbandwidth, as well to support transmission characteristics appropriateto the SLA purchased by this subscriber. In this case, the base stationor other network element may determine the specific vocoder, bit rateand/or bandwidth in view of the indicator and the level of servicepurchased by the customer. The indicator may, by way of example only,specify different vocoders, bit rates and/or bandwidths, which themobile station may support.

In another example, the indicator from the mobile station may specify aparticular vocoder, bit rate and/or bandwidth that the base station isto use, as well as the transmission characteristics as per purchasedSLA(s). Here, if the indicator is validated, then the specified vocoder,bit rate and/or bandwidth are used for wireless communication with themobile station. Thus, a more expensive mobile station may instruct aserving base station to select the best available vocoder and/or bitrate to ensure the best sound quality of communication.

In yet another alternative, the indicator identifies the make and/ormodel of the mobile station. In this case, the base station or othernetwork device may have a lookup table of supported mobile stations. Anexample of such a lookup table is provided in FIG. 6. Here six differentmobile station models from various manufacturers are identified. Forease of understanding, only three tiers of service are provided,specifically a lowest tier, a middle tier and a highest tier. It shouldbe understood that any number of service tiers may be provided. As shownin the figure, three of the models are assigned to the middle tier, oneof the models is assigned to the lowest tier, and two of the models areassigned to the highest tier.

By way of example only, if a user initiates a call using a modelassociated with the lowest tier, the mobile station may be assigned tothe lowest bit rate provided by the vocoder, e.g., on the order of 4.75kbps, such as between about 4.5 kbps and 5.0 kbps. Mobile station modelsassociated with the middle tier may be assigned a vocoder bit rate onthe order of 7.75 kbps, such as between about 7.5 kbps and 8.0 kbps. Andmobile station models associated with the highest tier may be assigned avocoder rate on the order of 12.2 kbps, such as between about 11.9 kbpsand 12.5 kbps. This creates significant benefits for service providersthat can put more subscribers on the same bandwidth, or serve fewersubscribers, but with higher level of service.

In another example, the indicator from the mobile station may specify aparticular security level that the base station is to use. Here, if theindicator is validated, then the specified security level is used forair communication with the mobile station. Thus, a mobile station mayinstruct a serving base station to select the security level, which thissubscriber is entitled to have in accordance with the selected feestructure. The security level can be validated together with the qualityof service layer, or may be validated separately from it. In any case,the structure of signal flow and functional elements may be the same asdiscussed above.

As discussed above, mobile stations will switch to different servingbase stations depending upon the locations of the mobile stationsrelatively to BSs and other factors. Thus, in accordance with one aspectof the present invention, upon switching to a new serving base station,any of the initiation processes explained herein may be employed.Alternatively, during handoff the system may identify to the new servingbase station, which tier of service the new serving base station is toaccommodate the mobile station. This may be done via base station tobase station communication, or upon direction from the mobile switchingcenter or other network device as it communicates with the new servingbase station. Such operation is desirable as it appears seamless to themobile station.

The above examples focused on calls initiated by the user's device.Another situation occurs when the user's device receives an incomingcall or communication, which may come from another mobile station, aPOTS telephone, a computer or the like. As shown in the scenario 300 ofFIG. 7, an incoming call may be received from a landline phone or othercommunication device 302 and may pass through the PSTN or other network304 to mobile switching center 306, as shown by arrows 308 and 310,respectively.

Upon receipt of an incoming call for a given mobile station, e.g.,mobile station 312, the mobile switching center 306 or other wirelessnetwork entity may access customer record database 314 as shown by arrow316. At the customer record database the mobile station'squality/security service levels are identified and a result is passed tothe mobile switching center as shown by arrow 318. Next, the mobileswitching center passes the incoming call along with thequality/security service levels for the call to base station 320 asshown by arrow 322.

The base station may set its vocoder and/or bit rate as well as identifya transmission path corresponding to the purchased service quality andsecurity levels. The base station may then send one or more data packetsto the mobile station as shown by arrow 324. At least one of these datapackets includes a quality/security service levels identifier that themobile station uses to set its vocoder and/or bit rate and securityfunctions, e.g., as packet header information. Then communicationbetween the mobile station and the landline or other device may takeplace as shown by arrows 326, 328, 330 and 332. The over the aircommunication between the mobile station and the base station occurusing the set vocoder and/or bit rate in accordance with the mobilestation's service/security levels.

In an alternative, the incoming call is routed from the landlinetelephone or other device to the mobile station, and once the mobilestation receives an indication that a call has been initiated it sends aquality/security service levels request or identifier to the basestation, for instance via a header, flag or other indicator in a datapacket. As in the example of FIG. 4, the system may then validate thequality/security service level(s) identifier by evaluating the customerrecord database or by examining a lookup table as discussed in regard toFIG. 6.

In yet another embodiment, an incoming call may be received from anothermobile station. An example of this situation is shown in the scenario340 of FIG. 8, where an incoming call is received from mobile station342 and pass through base station 344 (the serving base station ofmobile station 342) to mobile switching center 346, as shown by arrows348 and 370, respectively.

Upon receipt of an incoming call for the user's mobile station, e.g.,mobile station 352, the mobile switching center 346 or other wirelessnetwork entity may access customer record database 354 as shown by arrow356. At the customer record database the user's mobile station'squality/security service levels are identified and a result is passed tothe mobile switching center as shown by arrow 358. Next, the mobileswitching center passes the incoming call along with thequality/security service levels for the call to serving base station 360of the mobile station 352 as shown by arrow 362.

The base station 360 may set its vocoder, bit rate and/or security levelin accordance with the identified quality/security service levels. Thebase station 360 may then send one or more data packets to the mobilestation 352 as shown by arrow 364. At least one of these data packetsincludes a quality/security service levels identifier that the mobilestation 352 uses to set its vocoder and/or bit rate, e.g., as packetheader information. Then, communication between the mobile station 352,shown as MS1 in FIG. 8, and the mobile station 342, shown as MS2 in FIG.8, may take place as shown by arrows 366, 368, 370 and 372. The over theair communication between the mobile station 352 and the base station360 occurs using the set vocoder, bit rate and/or security level(s), andselecting transmission facilities as per SLAs in accordance with thatmobile station's service level.

In an alternative, the incoming call is routed from the mobile station342 to the mobile station 352, and once the mobile station 352 receivesan indication that a call has been initiated it sends a quality/securityservice levels request or identifier to the base station 360, forinstance via a header, flag or other indicator in a data packet. As inthe example of FIG. 4, the system may then validate the quality/securityservice levels identifier by evaluating the customer record database orby examining a lookup table as discussed in regard to FIG. 6.

In another example, it should be understood that both mobile stations,e.g., MS1 and MS2 in FIG. 8, may have quality/security service levelsset in accordance with FIG. 2 above. These service levels may be thesame or may differ. Should the service levels differ, several optionsare available. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, whenthe receiving mobile station has a higher quality/security servicelevels (e.g., a higher bit rate for its vocoder), then the receivingmobile station issues an instruction to the originating mobile stationto have the originating mobile station switch to a matchingquality/security service levels (if this is possible). This may be doneat the expense of the originating mobile station, or the serviceprovider may bear the expense.

In the situation where the originating mobile station has the higherquality/security service levels, it may instruct the receiving mobilestation (e.g., via a data packet header, flag or other identifier) tooperate at the higher quality/security service levels (if this ispossible). And as above, this may be done at the expense of theoriginating mobile station or the service provider may bear the expense.

In such a situation where the two mobile stations are arranged tooperate at the same voice quality or service level, as well as at thesame security level, it may be desirable that the serving base stationsare set to equivalent or corresponding voice quality or service levelsas well as the security level. For instance, the serving base stationsmay each be set to the same vocoder bit rate. And it should beunderstood that a single base station may act as the serving basestation for both of the mobile stations. Furthermore, more than twomobile stations may all be communicating simultaneously as part of athree-way or conference call. In this situation, the mobile station withthe highest service level may dictate the service level of one or moreof the other communicating mobile stations.

And in another alternative, MS2 sends a request to MS1 (through basestations BS1 and BS2 and with the help of MSC) to communicate. As anexample only, the mobile stations may be registered with differentquality/security service levels. For example, the MS2 user may havebought only a basic level of service and the MS1 user may have boughtthe highest level of quality/security service. BS1 and BS2 recognizesuch a fact. The called party associated with BS1 and the calling partyassociated with BS2 may have the ability to set-up a communicationschannel between two entities, MS1 and MS2 (see FIG. 8). As soon as theBS closest to the MS1 base station (BS1 in FIG. 8) recognizes that thetwo parties have different bit coding rates, it terminates the line, andmakes real-time recording of all data coming from MS2 and re-decodinganalog streams in a way acceptable to MS1, i.e., with the vocodersettings of MS1. At the other side of the link, BS2 (which is theclosest BS to MS2 at this particular time) terminates traffic flow fromMS1, and re-decodes the person's voice as per MS2 settings. In this way,both mobile stations communicate with each other without violations ofservice agreements with a provider (except at the span between a MS andthe closest BS).

In a further alternative, a service provider(s) creates “closed” groupsof subscribers. Here, each group is differentiated by quality/securityservice level agreements. For example, the premium services customerswant to receive and transmit information as per their contract with aservice provider with arranged SLAs. This contract may require thatservice provider needs to select the best facilities (for example, fiberoptics channels with dual rings architecture to guarantee high-qualitytransmission and reception). Identifications of subscribers' service andsecurity levels for each closed group may be performed as describedabove. If a subscriber from the “closed” group with a lower servicegrade wants to communicate with a subscriber from a higher level ofservice group, then he/she may pay a premium for the duration of thecall. If a subscriber belongs to a closed group with a higher level ofservice, and he/she wants to talk with a subscriber, which belongs to aclosed group with a lower service grade, then the premium may be paidagain by the lower service grade subscriber (similar to the currentrules in the U.S. when a subscriber pays for both incoming and outgoingcalls).

FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile station 400 for use in accordance withaspects of the present invention. As shown, the mobile station 400 mayinclude a baseband subsystem 402 and an RF or wireless subsystem 404.Both the baseband and RF subsystems may be controlled by a processorsuch as CPU 406. As used herein, the term RF encompasses, but is notlimited to the signals in the frequency range from 300 MHz up to 3 GHz.This range is often referred to as the ultra high frequency band(“UHF”). By way of example only, RF may encompass signals of lowerfrequency ranges such as a very high frequency (“VHF”) from 30 MHz to300 MHz or even lower, such as in the high frequency (“HF”) band. RF mayalso encompass signals of higher frequency ranges such as super highfrequency (“SHF”) from about 3 GHz up to 30 GHz or beyond, such asextremely high frequency (“EHF”) in the range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz orhigher.

The RF subsystem preferably includes a receiver and a transmitter(“transceiver”) coupled to an antenna (not shown). Details on RFsubsystem architectures may be found in “Transceiver System Design forDigital Communications,” by Scott R. Bullock, copyright 1995 by NoblePublishing, the entire disclosure of which are hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

By way of example only, the baseband subsystem may include a digitalsignal processor (“DSP”) 408, one or more vocoders 410, A/D(Analog/Digital) converters 412, a user interface 414, applicationsoftware 416 and peripherals 418. The DSP may perform various signalprocessing tasks, and the vocoder(s) may be separate from or part of theDSP. In one example, the DSP is part of the processor 406 and/or mayperform operations of the processor 406. Multiple vocoders may bedesirable, especially in the situation where the mobile station isconfigured to operate on different carriers' networks such as a WCDMAnetwork and a GSM network. Each vocoder may support multiple bit rates.The user interface may include a text interface, a GUI, actuators suchas switches, buttons and the like. The application software may beconfigured to run/control various programs on the mobile station, suchas a calendar program, a contacts program, games, an Internet browser,etc. Different peripherals may also be employed, such as an externalaudio output, microphone input, a charging connector and connectors forother electronic devices, such as a USB connector.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, before or during acall the user may press an actuator or “soft button” of the userinterface to cause the mobile station to instruct the basestation/network to use a particular compression level (e.g., a specificbit rate) and/or to use a particular vocoder or bandwidth. This may bedone in conjunction with application software to set the call quality.Then, as above, the quality information is used to set the bit rate,vocoder and/or bandwidth during communication with a recipient.

If the recipient is another mobile station, the caller may use theactuator or the soft button to instruct the receiving mobile stationand/or the network to switch the receiving mobile station to the samequality service level and security level as the calling mobile station.This will help to ensure that both parties are sending and receiving atthe same quality/security levels.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, if forsome reason the network fails to utilize the specified vocoder, bitrate, bandwidth, other transmission parameters that identify Class ofService and/or the security level for the duration of a call ortransmission, the user who is supposed to receive the specifiedquality/security levels may be financially compensated for such afailure. For instance, the customer's billing record may be credited afull or partial amount of what the call or transmission would have beencharged to the customer. Furthermore, metrics may be provided tocustomers showing the quality/security levels for incoming and outgoingcalls. Such metrics may be appended to the user's billing records,available through a web-based GUI or the like.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, FIG. 10illustrates a variation of the mobile station 400, namely mobile station400′. As shown, the mobile station 400′ includes a baseband subsystem402′ as well as the RF or wireless subsystem 404. Both the baseband andRF subsystems may be controlled by a processor such as CPU 406.

Many of the components of the mobile station 400′ are the same as thosein the mobile station 400 and operate as described above. As shown inFIG. 10, the mobile station 400′ includes one or more quality/securityservice levels indicators 420, which may be hard programmed into themobile station 400′. In one example, this may be done by programming thequality/security service levels indicators 420 into firmware of thebaseband subsystem 402′ when the phone is purchased by a customer. Inanother example, the programming may be accomplished by recording thequality/security service levels indicators 420′ in a nonvolatile memorysuch as a ROM during manufacture of the mobile station 400′. In afurther example, the quality/security service levels indicator(s) arehard programmed onto a subscriber identity module (“SIM”) card, whichcan be received through one of the peripherals 418.

Regardless of how the quality/security service levels indicator(s) 420is/are hard programmed into the mobile station 400′, a givenquality/security service level(s) indicator(s) may be utilized asfollows. As shown in the flow diagram 500 of FIG. 11, in the case wherea user of the mobile station 400′ initiates an outgoing call, the userinterface 414 may receive a command from the user to begin a call asshown in step S500. Next, as shown at step S502, the user interface 414may alert the CPU 406 that a call has been initiated. Then as shown instep S504, the CPU 406 may read the appropriate quality/security servicelevels indicator 420 from memory, e.g., from non-volatile or permanentmemory. The quality/security service levels indicator 420 may beselected depending upon the particular network on which the mobilestation 400′ is currently operating.

As shown in step S506 only as an example, the CPU 406 may select aspecific vocoder 410 to use if more than one vocoder is available. Andas shown in step S508, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to apredetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service levelindicator 420 employed. Next, as shown in step S510, the mobile station400′ may communicate with the current service base station and instructthe base station as to what vocoder and/or bit rate the mobile stationwill employ during the call. The process may conclude at step S512.

A similar process may occur when the mobile station receives an incomingcall. In one example shown in the flow diagram 520 of FIG. 12, in thecase where a user of the mobile station 400′ receives an incoming call,the RF/wireless subsystem 404 may receive notification of an incomingcall from a serving base station as shown in step S520. As shown at stepS522, the CPU 406 may be alerted that a call has been initiated. Then asshown in step S524, the CPU 406 may read the appropriatequality/security service level indicator 420 from memory, e.g., fromnon-volatile or permanent memory. The quality/security service levelsindicator 420 may be selected depending upon the particular network onwhich the mobile station 400′ is currently operating.

As shown in step S526 only as an example, the CPU 406 may select aspecific vocoder 410 to use if more than one vocoder is available. Andas shown in step S528, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to apredetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service levelindicator 420 employed. As shown in step S530, the mobile station 400′may communicate with the current service base station and instruct thebase station as to what vocoder and/or bit rate the mobile station willemploy during the call. The process may conclude at step S532.

Alternative procedures may be employed when initiating or receivingcalls with the mobile station 400′. For instance, as shown in the flowdiagram 540 of FIG. 13, in the case where a user of the mobile station400′ initiates an outgoing call, the user interface 414 may receive acommand from the user to begin a call as shown in step S540. Next, asshown at step S542, the user interface 414 may alert the CPU 406 that acall has been initiated. Then as shown in step S544, the CPU 406 mayread the appropriate quality/security service levels indicator 420 frommemory, e.g., from non-volatile or permanent memory. Thequality/security service level indicator 420 may be selected dependingupon the particular network on which the mobile station 400′ iscurrently operating.

Then, as shown in step S546, the quality/security service levelsindicator may be used to send a command or request to the base stationor other network element to select an appropriate levels of service. Thebase station or other network element (e.g., MSC) may then select anappropriate quality/security service level in view of thequality/security service level indicator information received from themobile station 400′, as shown at step S548. Then as shown at step S550,the mobile station 400′ receives a service level message from the basestation.

Based upon the received quality/security service levels message, thebaseband subsystem 402′ (e.g., CPU 406) may select a specific vocoder410 to use if more than one vocoder is available, as shown at step S552.And as shown in step S554, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to apredetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service levelindicator 420 employed. The process may conclude at step S556.

A similar process may occur when the mobile station receives an incomingcall. In one example shown in the flow diagram 560 of FIG. 14, in thecase where a user of the mobile station 400′ receives an incoming callat step S61, the RF/wireless subsystem 404 may receive notification ofan incoming call from a serving base station as shown in step S560. Asshown at step S562, the CPU 406 may be alerted that a call has beeninitiated. Then as shown in step S564, the CPU 406 may read theappropriate quality/security service levels indicator 420 from memory,e.g., from non-volatile or permanent memory. The quality/securityservice levels indicator 420 may be selected depending upon theparticular network on which the mobile station 400′ is currentlyoperating.

Then, as shown in step S566, the quality/security service levelindicator(s) may be used to send a command or request to the basestation or other network element to select an appropriatequality/security levels of service. The base station or other networkelement (e.g., MSC) may then select an appropriate quality/securityservice levels in view of the quality/security service level indicatorinformation received from the mobile station 400′, as shown at stepS568. Then as shown at step S570, the mobile station 400′ receives aquality/security service levels message from the base station.

Based upon the received quality/security service levels message, thebaseband subsystem 402′ (e.g., CPU 406) may select a specific vocoder410 to use if more than one vocoder is available, as shown at step S572.And as shown in step S574, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to apredetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service levelindicator 420 employed. The process may conclude at step S576.

It should also be understood as described elsewhere herein, that in thecase when the incoming call is from another mobile device or any userdevice in which the bit rate or vocoder may be set, the caller's devicemay have it's bit rate/vocoder set commensurate with that of the userdevice 400′. This may be done, for example, to ensure consistent voicequality between the parties on the call.

As discussed above, the user may set or change the quality/securityservice level(s) for one or more devices using a web-based interface.FIG. 15 provides an exemplary system 600 in which a user may view and/ormodify quality/security service levels over a network.

For example, the system 600 may include a server 610 containing aprocessor 620, memory 630 and other components typically present in acomputer. The server may be associated with a particular wirelesscommunication network, in which case it may be in operativecommunication with or operatively coupled to the MTSO or MSC. The memory630 stores information accessible by processor 620, includinginstructions 640 that may be executed by the processor 620 and data 635that may be retrieved, manipulated or stored by the processor. Thememory 630 may be of any type capable of storing information accessibleby the processor, such as a hard-drive, ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, write-capableor read-only memories.

The processor 620 may comprise any number of well known processors, suchas processors from Intel Corporation. Alternatively, the processor maybe a dedicated controller for executing operations, such as an ASIC. Theinstructions 640 may comprise any set of instructions to be executeddirectly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by theprocessor. In that regard, the terms “instructions,” “steps” and“programs” may be used interchangeably herein. The instructions may bestored in any computer language or format, such as in object code ormodules of source code. The quality service level information may be ashort code that indicates which quality class of service is purchased bya subscriber. The security level may be coded together with signalquality information, or may be a separate code. The functions, methodsand routines of instructions in accordance with the present inventionare explained in more detail below.

Data 635 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 620 inaccordance with the instructions 640. The data may be stored as acollection of data. For instance, although the invention is not limitedby any particular data structure, the data may be stored in computerregisters, in a relational database as a table having a plurality ofdifferent fields and records, XML documents, or flat files. The data mayalso be formatted in any computer readable format Moreover, the data mayinclude any information sufficient to identify the relevant information,such as descriptive text, proprietary codes, pointers, references todata stored in other memories (including other network locations) orinformation which is used by a function to calculate the relevant data.

Although the processor 620 and memory 630 are functionally illustratedin FIG. 15 as being within the same block, it should be understood thatthe processor 620 and memory 630 may comprise multiple processors andmemories that may or may not be stored within the same physical housingor location. For example, some or all of the instructions and data maybe stored on a removable CD-ROM and others within a read-only computerchip. Some or all of the instructions and data may be stored in alocation physically remote from, yet still accessible by, the processor.Similarly, the processor may actually comprise a collection ofprocessors, which may or may not operate in parallel.

In one aspect of the present invention, server 610 communicates with oneor more client computers 650 and 652. Each client computer may beconfigured similarly to the server 610, with a processor 654, memory andinstructions, as well as a user input device 670 and a user outputdevice, such as display 660. Each client computer may be a generalpurpose computer, intended for use by a person and having all theinternal components normally found in a personal computer such as theprocessor 654 (e.g., a CPU), display 660, CD-ROM, hard-drive, mouse,keyboard, touch-sensitive screen, speakers, microphone, modem and/orrouter (telephone, cable or otherwise) and all of the components usedfor connecting these elements to one another.

The server 610 and client computers 650 are capable of direct andindirect communication with other computers, such as over a network 680.Although only a few computers are depicted in FIG. 15, it should beappreciated that a typical system can include a large number ofconnected servers and clients, with each different computer being at adifferent node of the network. The network 680, and intervening nodes,may comprise various configurations and utilize various protocols andcommunications channels including the Internet, intranets, virtualprivate networks, wide area networks, local networks, private networksusing communication protocols proprietary to one or more companies,Ethernet, WiFi and HTTP.

Communication may be facilitated by any device capable of transmittingdata to and from other computers, such as modems (e.g., dial-up orcable), network interfaces and wireless interfaces. Server 610 may be aweb server. Although certain advantages are obtained when information istransmitted or received as noted above, other aspects of the inventionare not limited to any particular manner of transmission of information.For example, in some aspects, the information may be sent via a mediumsuch as a disk, tape, CD-ROM, or directly between two computer systemsvia a dial-up modem. In other aspects, the information may betransmitted in a non-electronic format and manually entered into thesystem.

In the case where the user of one of the client computers is a customeraccessing his/her account records, the system 600 may be an Internet orweb-based system. The user may set or change the quality/securityservice level(s) of one or more devices using system 600. For instance,the server 610 may provide a GUI to the user with an option to selectfrom among a plurality of quality/security service levels for a givenuser device. Once a selection has been made, the user's customer recordmay be updated to reflect the selection. A customer record database maybe part of memory 635, and may be accessible, either directly orindirectly, from the network's base stations, MSC or other networkinfrastructure. Here, the user may access the GUI using his/her owncomputer or through a computer provided by the service provider, such asat a kiosk or at one of the service provider's stores.

In another example, the user may be a reseller or aggregator who maypre-set service levels into various mobile stations using either aclient computer or the server 610 directly. Here, by way of exampleonly, the customer record database may be stored locally with the server610 with access provided to the network provider(s) or the customerrecord database may be maintained by a network provider with accessprovided to the reseller or aggregator.

In yet another example, the user may be a mobile station manufacturerwho may pre-set service levels into various mobile stations using eithera client computer or the server 610 directly. This may be done, asdiscussed above, by hard wiring the service level(s) into the mobilestation during production.

In an adaptive level service, the user may start, as predetermined bymeans of programming, with the lowest service level. The transcoder mayhave a threshold device, which analyzes one or several parameters of thereceived signal. The thresholds may be correlated with quality/securityservice levels. As soon as the transceiver extracts information thatshows the received signal degradation, the threshold device asks the MSto switch to the next higher service layer. This process may continueuntil the communications channel is within satisfactory conditions (oruntil the subscriber has exhausted all possible quality/security levelshe/she was entitled.)

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, anotherembodiment addresses a situation where a customer who has purchased apremium tier of assured quality communicates with another person who mayor may not subscribe to the premium tier. In the case where both usershave the same premium service, a voice call may be carried out betweenthem by setting the system as described above. For instance, theincoming/outgoing call is set at the premium tier of service for thereceiving party/calling party using any of the processes herein.

In a situation where the other person does not subscribe to a premiumtier, one option is to conduct a call with the first party operatingwith the premium tier while the other party operates at a lower tier ofservice. However, in many situations this may be undesirable, as thecall quality received by the premium tier customer will be substandard.

Thus, in one alternative, when a call is made to/from a premium tiermobile station and the other party's mobile station has a lower tier ofservice, the other party may receive an upgrade in service for theduration of the call to match the premium tier of the other mobilestation. This may be done automatically or manually.

For instance, in an automatic mode of operation a network device, suchas a serving base station of the non-premium tier mobile station, mayreceive an indication that the other mobile station is a premium tierdevice. Here, the serving base station of the non-premium tier mobilestation may automatically choose a higher quality vocoder, greaterbandwidth, etc. for the non-premium tier mobile station in order toensure end to end high quality communication between the two mobilestations. Thus, even though the non-premium tier mobile station wouldnot normally operate in a premium tier mode, it may be “forced” or“upgraded” into such a tier as long as it is capable of supporting thatmode of operation (e.g., supports the premium tier vocoder).

In one alternative, this type of upgrading may be available under a“premium plus” type of plan, wherein the subscriber to the premium tiermay be given the additional option of upgrading calling/called parties.This may be done for an additional charge, which may be billed via thesubscriber's customer record. The premium plus service may have a flatrate charge, such as a monthly fee charged whether or not any upgradesare made. Alternatively, the subscriber may be charged on a “pay as yougo” program where he or she is billed the premium plus fee only when theother party is actually upgraded.

In another alternative, the subscribers who are not matched by qualityof service may communicate according to their service subscription untilthe signal reaches the closest BS to a subscriber BS. Such a BS thenterminates data streams and re-records and transmits them at anappropriate bandwidth and a bit rate for the corresponded subscriber.

In still another alternative, subscribers may be united by purchasedgrade classes of services (quality or/and security). In this way, theyorganize the closed groups of subscribers, and can talk to each other,as was described above, inside of the group. If a subscriber from a“lower” group wants to talk to a subscriber from a “higher” level group,then, as per a contract, he/she needs to pay a premium for the durationof such a call. The same situation is valid when a subscriber from a“lower” group receives a call from a subscriber that belongs to a“higher” level group, a network instructs a lower grade subscriber touse transmission that guarantees a higher group quality of service. Notethat groups are supposed to be compatible, i.e., mobile stations shouldhave the ability to be adjusted to the same transmissioncharacteristics.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary call configuration process 700, whichmay be employed with the automatic mode of operation. The process beginswith a call initiation at step S700. This initiation may be done byeither party, and does not require that both users be wireless mobilestations on the same network. For instance, one of the users may have amobile station registered on a first network, while the other user mayhave a mobile station registered on a second network. In an alternative,the second user may have a wired or wireless voice over IP (“VOIP”)device, which may be communicating through an Internet server.

At steps S702 and S704, determinations are made about the calling partyand called party tiers of quality/security services. This may be done inaccordance with any of the embodiments set forth herein. At step S706 adetermination is made as to whether the tiers of servicequality/security of both parties match. If there is a match, then asshown in step S708 the call may commence without service level changesby a network device (e.g., a base station). After the call, the processmay terminate at step S710.

It should be noted that in the case of devices operating on differentnetworks and/or offerings by different providers, there may not be anexact conformity between tiers of service. In accordance with an aspectof the invention, even if there is not an exact match of tiers, if thequality of service between the users' tiers correlates in accordancewith a predetermined threshold, then a match may be declared and theprocess would proceed at step S708. For instance, assume a first userhas a first tier of service quality/security corresponding to use of afirst vocoder. The other user may operate on a different network with asecond tier of service corresponding to use of a second vocoder. If thetwo vocoders provide voice quality levels commensurate with one another,e.g., a 10.0 kbps CELP codec for the first vocoder and a 9.5 kbps EVRCcodec for the second vocoder, then a predetermined threshold may besatisfied and the call may commence. Correlation in accordance with sucha threshold may be determined in accordance with equivalent voicequality levels as set forth above.

If the tiers of service do not match, then as shown at step S712 anetwork element (e.g., a base station) may select an appropriate levelof service for the device (e.g., mobile station) having the lower tierof service. For instance, as shown at step S714, a vocoder of the lowertier device may be selected to match the higher tier of the other user'sdevice. Alternatively or additionally, additional bandwidth may beselected to match that of the higher tier device. As shown at step S716,the vocoder or bandwidth may be set to a predetermined bit rate orquality level commensurate with the higher tier device. One of both ofthe caller/callee parties may be billed in accordance with the upgrade,as shown by step S718. After the call, the process may end at step S710.

Another mode of operation may exist where, once a call is initiated, thetier of operation of the calling/called party is identified. This may bedone, by way of example, with a network device such as a serving basestation querying a customer record database. Alternatively, thecalling/called party's device may identify its level of quality/securityservice as set forth above, such as via an identifier that is part of atransmitted data packet. In either case, the premium tier mobile stationmay be notified about the difference in service levels. At this point,the premium tier mobile station user may elect to upgrade the otherparty's quality/security levels for the call. For instance, the premiumtier party may choose to pay to upgrade the other party's plan/tier forthe current call.

Alternatively, the lower tier party may be notified that the other partyoperates or is capable of operating at the premium tier. Here, the lowertier party may be offered the opportunity to upgrade his/her tier forthe duration of the call. In yet another alternative, the lower tierparty may initially be offered the upgrade option first and if he/shedeclines, then the premium tier party may be offered the option toupgrade the other party. Or in a further alternative, the premium tierparty may initially be offered the upgrade option first and if he/shedeclines, then the lower tier party may be offered the option to upgradethe other party. In still another alternative, at the time ofsubscribing to a wireless service, a party choosing a tier less than thehighest tier may be offered as part of the plan an option for anautomatic upgrade to a higher tier whenever this party receives a phonecall from a second party having a higher tier of serves to match thesecond party's tier, on a pay-per-call basis or for a fixed monthlysurcharge.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary call configuration process 750, whichmay be employed with yet another mode of operation. The process beginswith a call initiation at step S750. As discussed above with regard toprocess 700 of FIG. 16, this initiation may be done by either party, anddoes not require that both users be wireless mobile stations on the samenetwork. For instance, one of the users may have a mobile stationregistered on a first network, while the other user may have a mobilestation registered on a second network. In an alternative, the seconduser may have a wired or VoIP device, which may be communicating throughan Internet servers.

At steps S752 and S754, determinations are made about the calling partyand called party tiers of services. This may be done in accordance withany of the embodiments set forth herein. At step S756, a determinationis made as to whether the tiers of service of both parties match. Ifthere is a match, then as shown in step S758 the call may then commence.After the call, the process may terminate at step S760.

If there is not a match, then one or both parties to the call may benotified about the difference in service tiers, as shown in step S762.Each notified party may be offered an option to upgrade the lower tieruser to match the service level of the higher tier user, as shown instep S764, or this upgrade may take place automatically according toeach user's service plan. This may be done by checking the user accountrecord to see if the user has elected an option to upgrade his/herservice on a call by call basis in the event of a call with another userwith a higher tier of service. Or this may be done if the higher tieruser's account record includes an indication that the user elects toupgrade the other party. In another example, an indicator or request maybe sent to one or both users for display or other identification on therespective user device. Here, the respective user may or may not chooseto upgrade the service.

A query may be made at step S766 to see if a user elected to upgrade theservice level of the lower tier device. If no upgrade was chosen, thenthe process may continue at step S758. If an upgrade was chosen, thenthe user who elected the upgrade may be billed commensurately as shownin step S768.

As shown at step S770, a vocoder of the lower tier device may beselected to match the higher tier of the other user's device. Thisselection may be done by either user or by the network (e.g., servingbase station). Alternatively or additionally, additional bandwidth maybe selected to match that of the higher tier device. As shown at stepS772, the vocoder or bandwidth may be set to a predetermined bit rate orquality level commensurate with the higher tier device. After the call,the process may end at step S760.

FIG. 18 illustrates an alternative mobile station or base station 800for use in accordance with aspects of the present invention. The overallconfiguration is similar to the architectures in FIGS. and 10. As shownin FIG. 18, the station 800 may include a baseband subsystem 802 and anRF or wireless subsystem 804. Both the baseband and RF subsystems may becontrolled by a processor such as CPU 806. The RF subsystem 804preferably includes transceiver coupled to an antenna (not shown). Byway of example only, the baseband subsystem may include DSP 808, one ormore vocoders 810, A/D converters 812, a user interface 814, applicationsoftware 816, peripherals 818 and one or more quality/security servicelevels indicators 820, which may be hard programmed into the station800. In one example, this may be done by programming thequality/security service levels indicators 820 into firmware of thebaseband subsystem 802. In another example, the programming may beaccomplished by recording the quality/security service levels indicators820 in a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM during manufacture of thestation 800. In a further example, the quality/security service levelsindicator(s) are hard programmed onto a subscriber identity module(“SIM”) card, which can be received through one of the peripherals 818.

The DSP 808 may perform various signal processing tasks, and thevocoder(s) 810 may be separate from or part of the DSP 808. In oneexample, the DSP is part of the processor 806 and/or may performoperations of the processor 806. Multiple vocoders may be desirable,especially in the situation where the mobile station is configured tooperate on different carriers' networks such as a WCDMA network and aGSM network. Each vocoder may support multiple bit rates. The userinterface may include a text interface, a GUI, actuators such asswitches, buttons and the like. The application software may beconfigured to run/control various programs on the mobile station, suchas a calendar program, a contacts program, games, an Internet browser,etc. Different peripherals may also be employed, such as an externalaudio output, microphone input, a charging connector and connectors forother electronic devices, such as a USB connector.

As shown, the station 800 also includes an encryption/decryption device822 therein. The encryption/decryption device 822 may be separate fromthe vocoder(s) 810 or may be integrated therein, such as shown byencryption/decryption device 822′. The device 822 or 822′ may becontrolled by the CPU 806 and/or the DSP 808 in view of one or moreservice level indicators 820. For instance, a particular level ofencryption may be applied to information transmitted from the station800. This particular level of encryption may be set based upon asecurity service level indicator stored in the station 800. As discussedherein, a user may select a security level as part of a contract with aservice provider. In addition, security levels may be negotiated and/oradjusted when communicating among mobile stations that may initially beset to different security levels.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerousmodifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that otherarrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore,while particular processes are shown in a specific order in the appendeddrawings, such processes are not limited to any particular order unlesssuch order is expressly set forth herein.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the security levels aredetermined per a service contract. Due to the sensitivity of securityimplementation, it is desirable to separate transmission and securityplanes, and concentrate security operation in hands of the serviceprovider. While this is desirable, such an implementation does notpreclude other alternatives.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention enjoys wide industrial applicability including,but not limited to, communicating among user devices in wirelesscommunication networks. The present invention allows devices toeffectively utilize a communications channel and supports high qualityand security of transmission, which will benefit service providers andsubscribers alike.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of setting a security protocol ina wireless communication network comprising a plurality of basestations, the method comprising: determining a security service levelassociated with a first mobile station registered with the wirelesscommunication network; determining a security service level associatedwith a second mobile station; determining, using one or more processors,whether the first mobile station and the second mobile station belong toa closed group sharing one or more security service levels; identifying,using any of the one or more processors, whether there is a higher tiersecurity service level and a lower tier security service level fromamong the first mobile station and the second mobile station securityservice levels; and when there is the higher tier security service leveland the lower tier security service level, setting, using any of the oneor more processors, a security protocol for use in communication betweenthe first and the second mobile stations through one or more of theplurality of base stations, the setting being determined by at least oneof the higher tier security service level and the lower tier securityservice level; wherein the setting is in accordance with an encryptionprotocol and one or more service guarantees, the one or more serviceguarantees including at least one of a minimum bandwidth, a maximumcompression, a security level and a minimum quality of communicationlevel.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the security protocolincludes: a first one of the plurality of base stations in communicationwith the first mobile station encrypting information received from thesecond mobile station in an encryption format commensurate with thesecurity service level associated with the first mobile station, suchthat the first mobile station communicates with the second mobilestation via the first base station without changing the security servicelevel associated with the first mobile station.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein setting the security protocol further includes: a second oneof the plurality of base stations in communication with the secondmobile station encrypting information received from the first mobilestation in an encryption format commensurate with the security servicelevel associated with the second mobile station, such that the secondmobile station communicates with the first mobile station via the secondbase station without changing the security service level associated withthe second mobile station.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein, upondetermination that the first and second mobile stations belong to theclosed group, using a given one of the one or more security servicelevels to communicate between the first and the second mobile stations.5. The method of claim 4, wherein the given security service levelemploys at least one of a particular encryption level or a predeterminedvocoder.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the given security servicelevel is assigned to a particular tier of service having the one or moreservice guarantees.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or moreservice guarantees include at least one of the minimum bandwidth, thesecurity level and the minimum quality of communication level.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the security service level associated withthe first mobile station is determined using a security service levelindicator stored by the first mobile station.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the security service level associated with the first mobilestation is determined using a security service level indicator accordingto which wireless communication network the first mobile station isregistered with.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second mobilestation is configured to communicate via the wireless communicationnetwork using one of cellular network, WiFi and Voice over IP (VOIP).11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors arelocated in one or more of the plurality of base stations.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are disposed in a housingof the first mobile station.
 13. A mobile station configured to operateon a multi-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality ofsecurity tiers corresponding to different levels of security, thewireless mobile station comprises: a housing; a microphone positionedwithin the housing; a digital signal processor disposed within thehousing and operatively connected to the microphone; a microprocessordisposed within the housing and operatively connected to the digitalsignal processor; an encryption/decryption device disposed within thehousing and operatively connected to the microprocessor; a transceiverdisposed within the housing and operatively connected to themicroprocessor; an antenna operatively connected to the transceiver; abattery disposed within the housing and electrically connected to themicroprocessor; a display disposed on a first side of the housing andoperatively connected to the microprocessor; and memory operativelycoupled to the microprocessor and storing a security service levelindicator therein, the security service level indicator identifying asecurity service level associated with the mobile station; wherein themobile station is configured to communicate with one or more clientdevices via the multi-tier wireless communication network in accordancewith the security service level, the communication including:determining whether the mobile station and the one or more clientdevices belong to a closed group sharing one or more security servicelevels; identifying whether there is a higher tier security servicelevel and a lower tier security service level from among securityservice levels of the first mobile station and the one or more clientdevices; and when there is the higher tier security service level andthe lower tier security service level, setting a security protocol foruse in communication between the mobile station and the one or moreclient devices through one or more base stations of the wirelesscommunication network, the setting being determined by at least one ofthe higher tier security service level and the lower tier securityservice level; wherein, upon determination that the mobile station andthe one or more client devices belong to the closed group, the mobilestation is configured to communicate with the one or more client devicesusing a given one of the one or more security service levels, the givensecurity service level employing at least one of a predeterminedencryption protocol or a predetermined vocoder.
 14. The mobile stationof claim 13, wherein the one or more service guarantees include at leastone of a minimum bandwidth, a minimum security level and a minimumquality of communication level for the mobile station.
 15. The mobilestation of claim 13, wherein the security service level indicator isselectable according to which wireless communication network the mobilestation is registered with.
 16. The mobile station of claim 13, whereinthe encryption/decryption device is controlled by the microprocessoraccording to the security service level indicator.
 17. The mobilestation of claim 13, further comprising a vocoder operatively connectedto the digital signal processor, microprocessor and the transceiver,wherein the encryption/decryption device is separate from the vocoder.18. The mobile station of claim 13, further comprising a vocoderoperatively connected to the microprocessor and the transceiver, whereinthe encryption/decryption device is integrated with the vocoder.
 19. Themobile station of claim 13, further comprising a vocoder operativelyconnected to the microprocessor and the transceiver, wherein theencryption/decryption device is integrated with the digital signalprocessor.
 20. A wireless communication system, comprising: a pluralityof base stations; a network server operatively connected to theplurality of base stations; a data storage device operatively connectedto the network server; and a customer record database stored on thestorage device arranged to maintain records of a plurality of customersof the wireless communication system, to identify client devicesassociated with the plurality of customers, and to identify whether anyof the client devices has a security service level associated therewith;wherein at least one of the plurality of base stations and the networkserver is configured to employ the customer record database to:determine a security service level associated with a first client deviceregistered with the wireless communication network; determine a securityservice level associated with a second client device; determine whetherthe first and the second client devices belong to a closed group sharingone or more security service levels; identify whether there is a highertier security service level and a lower tier security service level fromamong the first client device and the second client device securityservice levels; and when there is the higher tier security service leveland the lower tier security service level, set a security protocol foruse in communication between the first and the second client devices,the setting being determined by at least one of the higher tier securityservice level and the lower tier security service level; wherein, upondetermination that the mobile station and the one or more client devicesbelong to the closed group, the mobile station is configured tocommunicate with the one or more client devices using a given one of theone or more security service levels, the given security service levelemploying at least one of a predetermined encryption protocol or apredetermined vocoder.
 21. The wireless communication system of claim20, wherein setting the security protocol includes: a first one of theplurality of base stations in communication with the first client deviceencrypting information received from the second client device in anencryption format compatible with the security service level associatedwith the first client device, such that the first client devicecommunicates with the second client device via the first base stationwithout changing the security service level associated with the firstclient device.
 22. A mobile station configured to operate on amulti-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality ofsecurity tiers corresponding to different levels of security, thewireless mobile station comprises: means for receiving voice input froma user; means for processing the received voice input and for generatinginformation to communicate via the multi-tier wireless communicationnetwork; means for encrypting generated information and for decryptinginformation received from the multi-tier wireless communication network;memory means for storing a security service level indicator, thesecurity service level indicator identifying a security service levelassociated with the mobile station; and means for communicating with oneor more client devices via the multi-tier wireless communication networkin accordance with the security service level, the communicationincluding: determining whether the mobile station and the one or moreclient devices belong to a closed group sharing one or more securityservice levels; identifying whether there is a higher tier securityservice level and a lower tier security service level from amongsecurity service levels of the first mobile station and the one or moreclient devices; and when there is the higher tier security service leveland the lower tier security service level, setting a security protocolfor use in communication between the mobile station and the one or moreclient devices through one or more base stations of the wirelesscommunication network, the setting being determined by at least one ofthe higher tier security service level and the lower tier securityservice level.
 23. The mobile station of claim 22, wherein, upondetermination that the mobile station and the one or more client devicesbelong to the closed group, the mobile station is configured tocommunicate with the one or more client devices using a given one of theone or more security service levels.
 24. A non-transitory computerprogram product on which a security service level associated with afirst mobile station is stored, the security service level being used toperform a method of setting a security protocol comprising: determiningthe security service level associated with the first mobile stationregistered with a wireless communication network; determining a securityservice level associated with a second mobile station; determiningwhether the first mobile station and the second mobile station belong toa closed group sharing one or more security service levels; identifyingwhether there is a higher tier security service level and a lower tiersecurity service level from among the first mobile station and thesecond mobile station security service levels; and when there is thehigher tier security service level and the lower tier security servicelevel, setting a security protocol for use in communication between thefirst and the second mobile stations, the setting being determined by atleast one of the higher tier security service level and the lower tiersecurity service level; wherein, upon determination that the mobilestation and the one or more client devices belong to the closed group,the mobile station is configured to communicate with the one or moreclient devices using a given one of the one or more security servicelevels, the given security service level employing at least one of apredetermined encryption protocol or a predetermined vocoder.
 25. Thenon-transitory computer program product of claim 24, wherein thesecurity service level indicator is selectable according to whichwireless communication network the first mobile station is registeredwith.